ANDREW LIMBONG, HOST:
Even though it is fall, it's hot and muggy and gross at a time when all I want to do is wear a big sweater, sip on a cup of tea and be in full-on cozy mode. Instead, let's manifest those vibes through movies. On this week's movie conversation segment, we're going to talk about our favorite comfort watches, the films that feel like a warm blanket, with ALL THINGS CONSIDERED producer Mallory Yu - hey, Mallory...
MALLORY YU, BYLINE: Hey, Andrew.
LIMBONG: ...And Stephen Thompson, host of Pop Culture Happy Hour. Hey, Stephen.
STEPHEN THOMPSON, BYLINE: Hey, Andrew.
LIMBONG: All right, so I know both of you have watched a ton of movies. What does it take for one to become a comfort watch, the kind that you turn to when you want to feel better? Stephen, why don't you start?
THOMPSON: Well, you know, I think that comfort watching kind of begins with a sense of familiarity, right? Like, it helps to have seen the movie before. It helps that the movie has made you feel good. It helps that the movie has maybe a sense of optimism, a sense that things will work out in the end. And I think that for those who live with family or partners or loved ones, I think a sense of shared experience can be a big part of this.
YU: Yeah.
THOMPSON: There are movies that I watch with my partner or with my kids that I might never think to watch by myself. So, you know, I think if you're around the right people in the right setting, anything can be a comfort movie.
YU: I agree with that, Stephen. Like, that sense of familiarity is really, really important. For me, a comfort watch is kind of subjective. It sort of depends on the context and my mood. It basically is one that I can count on to bring about a certain feeling or emotion that I like or need to feel, whether that emotion is positive or negative sometimes. You know, sometimes I want a cozy blankety (ph) kind of movie like the Keira Knightley "Pride And Prejudice," where it's familiar, it's soft...
LIMBONG: I just watched it for the first time (ph).
YU: Yeah, it's like, it's soft and quiet and really pretty to look at. There are no surprises. But other times when I'm feeling especially down, sometimes I need a movie to meet me at that level, like "Annihilation," which became kind of a...
THOMPSON: Oh, god.
YU: ...Comfort movie for me.
LIMBONG: (Laughter) That's a great - that's a wild comfort movie.
YU: I mean, I was in the middle of a depressive slump.
LIMBONG: Yeah.
YU: So it sort of met me at the level that I needed it to.
LIMBONG: Stephen, let's name some names. What movies were you - are you thinking of loading up this season?
THOMPSON: Well, one that I come back to again and again, you know, it's not necessarily set in autumn. There aren't a lot of crunching leaves. But one movie that we come back to again and again is "Arrival" from 2016...
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "ARRIVAL")
AMY ADAMS: (As Louise Banks) There are days that define your story beyond your life, like the day they arrived.
THOMPSON: ...Which is about an alien invasion, but it's not an action movie. It's about language. It's about communication as a puzzle that can be solved with cooperation. And it's also about - as kind of Mallory was alluding to, it has an undercurrent of sadness to it. It's about the importance of putting pain and grief into perspective. And it has this - it gives you this very cleansing cry. And the music by Johann Johannsson and Max Richter is just incredible. So, like, that's one that my partner and I are about to rewatch for the umpteenth time once we're kind of snuggling under blankets instead of sweating ourselves silly (ph).
LIMBONG: I know. My AC's still on. Sorry to keep harping on this, but this is insane.
YU: No, I feel you. I feel you, Andrew. I'm waiting for the weather to get cool.
THOMPSON: (Laughter).
YU: For me, "When Harry Met Sally" is one that I always want to watch when the weather turns colder.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "WHEN HARRY MET SALLY")
BILLY CRYSTAL: (As Harry Burns) You know, the first time we met, I really didn't like you that much.
MEG RYAN: (As Sally Albright) I didn't like you.
CRYSTAL: (As Harry Burns) Yeah, you did. You were just so uptight then. You're much softer now.
RYAN: (As Sally Albright) You know, I hate that kind of remark. It sounds like a compliment, but really, it's an insult.
YU: Obviously, the movie poster and the DVD cover is that sort of iconic scene of them in Central Park in fall. They are surrounded by red and orange leaves, and you kind of get the feeling that everything is cold around them.
LIMBONG: Yeah.
YU: I grew up in California, so I very much romanticized that image of East Coast fall.
LIMBONG: Yeah, yeah.
YU: And "When Harry Met Sally" has always kind of captured that feeling for me.
LIMBONG: We talked about that move last week, and I was sort of...
YU: Oh, OK, I can...
LIMBONG: I was screaming at the radio because it's a perfect fall movie because I get a lot of dudes getting dressed on my Instagram content, and, like, Billy Crystal's roll neck sweater shows up a lot. I get that a lot, and it's like, it looks like a cozy sweater. We can go down whole tangents of they don't make sweaters like they used to, da da da (ph).
YU: They don't. They really don't.
THOMPSON: (Laughter).
LIMBONG: The thing is - that movie, I hate that movie.
(LAUGHTER)
LIMBONG: I so fundamentally disagree with its central premise in that, like, my wife really likes it, we throw it on, and then it's like, d***, now we got to get into an argument. This sucks (laughter).
YU: That's so funny. So it's the opposite of a comfort movie for you.
THOMPSON: (Laughter).
LIMBONG: Yeah. Yeah.
THOMPSON: But while we're talking about great depictions of sweaters in movies, let's talk about "Knives Out."
LIMBONG: Oh, uh-huh.
YU: Yes.
LIMBONG: Good sweater movie.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "KNIVES OUT")
DANIEL CRAIG: (As Benoit Blanc) So somebody suspects foul play and goes through this ha-cha (ph) dance of hiring me, of staying anonymous. It makes no d*** sense. Compels me, though.
THOMPSON: You know, Chris Evans' sweater in "Knives Out" is iconic. And, you know, when we talk about cozy movies, our thoughts often go to cozy mysteries. And I think those "Knives Out" movies - the first "Knives Out," "Glass Onion," there's another one coming later this fall - those are great fall movies.
LIMBONG: So like, yeah, I mostly - at my day job - right? - I mostly cover books, and I get all these publicists, you know, sending me pitches about, like, a cozy mystery. This is a mystery that is automatically cozy. And I was like, what is the link between somebody being murdered and feeling comfortable?
YU: I mean, I think there's, like, some predictability to it, right? It's kind of why we like the shows that solve a murder of the week...
LIMBONG: Yeah.
YU: ...Because you sort of can expect that there will be some kind of justice that happens at the end, that that murder will be solved, that you will find the perpetrators. And so when you enter one of these mysteries, you can kind of enjoy the ride, knowing that it'll conclude in a way that you like.
THOMPSON: Yeah, I agree with that completely. I think there's a sense of a familiar formula that goes in. And, you know, the "Knives Out" movies are very inspired by kind of Agatha Christie and kind of these classic mysteries where it's like, there's a room full of people, and one of them is the killer. There's something very contained about that formula where you know at the end of the movie that puzzle is going to get solved. And I think that's one reason that people go back not only to cozy mysteries but to kind of episodic television, you know, that is giving you kind of a set result at the end of the episode where you know there's going to be resolution. I think that's part of the coziness - more than the murder.
LIMBONG: Yeah. All right, we're at the end of September. October is coming, which means we are beginning to enter spooky season. I already, you know, bought all my Costco candy ahead of time.
(LAUGHTER)
LIMBONG: But we're thinking about Halloween. What are you guys thinking for - about Halloween watches?
THOMPSON: "Hocus Pocus" - "Hocus Pocus" is as cozy as a Halloween movie gets.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "HOCUS POCUS")
BETTE MIDLER: (As Winifred Sanderson, singing) I put a spell on you, and now you're gone.
SARAH JESSICA PARKER AND KATHY NAJIMY: (As Sarah Sanderson and Mary Sanderson, singing) Gone, gone, gone. So long.
MIDLER: (As Winifred Sanderson, singing) My whammy fell on you, and it was strong.
PARKER AND NAJIMY: (As Sarah Sanderson and Mary Sanderson, singing) So strong, so strong, so strong.
YU: Absolutely. Or, like, "Halloweentown" - there's any number of them. I know Stephen said that a lot of the cozy movies that he enjoys don't include a lot of murder and blood and violence. But one that I like to put on that is fun is "Chopping Mall."
LIMBONG: "Chopping Mall," what is this?
THOMPSON: (Laughter).
YU: "Chopping Mall" - it is an '80s B horror movie about a shopping mall that has a robot security system that malfunctions and turns deadly, which is unfortunate for the group of teens who snuck into the mall for some after-hours teenage shenanigans.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "CHOPPING MALL")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) We've got to help her.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character, screaming).
JIM WYNORSKI: (As Killbots) Thank you and have a nice day.
(SOUNDBITE OF EXPLOSION)
YU: It's just a classic of the B horror slasher genre. It's got great hair, amazing line reads and a killer - ha ha - soundtrack. It just delights me every single time I watch it, and I think it's appropriate for this movie segment (ph).
LIMBONG: Is it one of those movies that knows it's hokey, or is it taking itself very seriously?
YU: Yes.
THOMPSON: Yeah (inaudible).
YU: No, no, no. It is not taking itself seriously at all. Yeah.
YU: I guess it's called "Chopping Mall" so OK (ph).
THOMPSON: (Laughter).
YU: Also, "Chopping Mall" is such a great title for a movie.
LIMBONG: Yeah.
(LAUGHTER)
LIMBONG: Stephen, you know, what about with the folks with kids? What are you loading up for the whole family? I guess not "Chopping Mall" - if not "Chopping Mall," yeah.
YU: (Laughter).
THOMPSON: Well, you know, talking about, like, cozy fall movies for kids, you know, we come back to animation. You know, Miyazaki movies often have, you know, an autumnal quality to them. You know, Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas," you know, was kind of seasonally appropriate, but also, there's that - a playfulness to it. There's a vibrance to what's on the screen.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS")
DANNY ELFMAN: (As Jack Skellington, singing) What's this? What's this? There's color everywhere. What's this? There's white things in the air. What's this?
THOMPSON: So I think that comes in handy. You know, anything you go back to and watch again and again as a family is going to work in that setting, but, you know, when you're talking about thematically fall and family friendly, a movie like "Coco."
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "COCO")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #3: (As character) Dia de los Muertos is the one night of the year our ancestors can come visit us. We put their photos on the ofrenda so their spirits can cross over.
THOMPSON: It fits into themes around, you know, the Day of the Dead. It's a Halloween friendly movie, but it's also sentimental. It's also emotional. It's also very, very comforting.
LIMBONG: Yeah. All right, we've been talking to NPR's Stephen Thompson and Mallory Yu. Thank you all for joining us.
YU: Always a pleasure.
THOMPSON: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF DARIO MARIANELLI'S "DAWN") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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